1. Field of the Invention
This invention has relation to incorporating into a water supply sufficient air so that compounds suspended therein will be oxydized to be separated from or easily separable from the water supply in the form of gases or solids. Such apparatus will find great utility in eliminating substantially all rust and other solids and in substantially eliminating odor and taste.
2. Description of the Prior Art
The patent to Scholten, U.S. Pat. No. 3,265,370, granted Aug. 9, 1966, sets out, beginning at column 1, line 25, a full discussion of the reasons for aerating water in drinking water supply systems and other water supplies. As pointed out therein, aeration serves to remove dissolved gases such as carbon dioxide, hydrogen sulphide and methane, while at the same time oxydizing dissolved minerals such as iron and manganese and also copper and sulphur. Such precipitates can then be removed from the water supply by a simple filtration process. The present invention deals with a novel apparatus for accomplishing the aeration of the water supply, and does not deal with the subsequent filtration of the precipitated solids from that supply. This can be accomplished by any usual or preferred method, not a part of the present invention.
The Scholten patent shows a device which accomplishes aeration by cascading water from the water supply over a plurality of perforate splash trays 27 and by introducing air and forcing it up through those splash trays to bring it into contact with the water. This is typical of aeration methods known to the prior art.
The patent to Kukla, U.S. Pat. No. 4,271,099, granted in June of 1981, discloses an apparatus for mixing water and air wherein the two are introduced into a mixing chamber at right angles to each other and in which the liquid intake conduit necessarily has an intake portion and a discharge portion connected by an intermediate bend portion formed such that the intake and discharge portions are substantially in normal relation to one another. According to the disclosure of Kukla, these elements are introduced into a larger vertical exhaust discharge conduit 42 which has an interior cross-sectional area greater than any cross-sectional area along the mixing chamber where the air and water are introduced to each other.
In working with structures such as those shown in the Kukla patent, it has been found that salts of iron, sulphur and other elements and compounds precipitate out in and around the venturi and pipe bends and the like and in a short time clog the device to the point where it is no longer effective for its intended purpose. It has also been found, however, by the present inventor, that use of a very thin stream of very rapidly moving water or other liquid at the point of mixing of the liquid with air or other gas eliminates this problem.
The patent to Elkern, U.S. Pat. No. 3,920,552, granted in November of 1975, discloses an apparatus for aerating water whereby the water supply to be aerated is introduced through a horizontal row of openings around the bottom section of a vertical stand pipe, air is introduced into the vertical stand pipe above the row of water openings, and the air and water are forced upwardly together through a series of baffles designed to mix the air and the water together and are discharged through a central opening at the top of the stand pipe.
The patent to Daniel, U.S. Pat. No. 4,072,612, granted in February of 1978, shows water from a water supply being drawn along a conduit by a centrifugal pump with air being entered into the conduit at an adjustable air inlet opening to the conduit at right angles thereto. The water and air are then thoroughly mixed in the centrifugal pump and discharged by the pump back into the body of water which is to be aerated. A filter located at the inlet end of the water conduit appears to impede the flow of water flow the water supply into the conduit sufficiently to cause a pressure differential to facilitate the aspiration of the air into the conduit.
The patent to Roediger, U.S. Pat. No. 4,274,959, granted in June of 1981, discloses waste water being fed through an injector 24 into an air pressurized container 26 to draw in and dissolve the compressed air in the water by eduction. This water is then fed back out of the pressure tank into the water supply.
The patents cited above were all of the pertinent patents located in a search of the present invention. The inventor and those in privity with him are aware of no prior art which is closer than that discussed above and they are aware of no prior art which anticipates the claims herein.